


Into the Deep

by Goldy



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Violence, canon adjacent, dark!Bughead, inspired by 4x19, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: When an old enemy captures Jughead, Betty will do anything to get him back. A future dark!Bughead fic inspired by 4x19.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 34
Kudos: 116
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	Into the Deep

Betty’s footsteps are almost silent as she makes her way down the alleyway behind what remains of Archie’s former boxing club. Puddles fill the cracks and valleys in the pavement, remnants of heavy rains from the night before. She creeps forward with her right hand clutched around her favourite revolver. 

The alleyway is crammed with dumpsters and trash cans. She weaves carefully between the puddles, gaze sliding from one dumpster to the next. Each is the perfect hiding place for another person – or for an ambush.

She hears the splash of a puddle behind her she spins around, bringing her revolver up and pointing it in front of her with both hands.

A woman steps out from behind one of the dumpsters. She claps her hands in exaggerated amusement as her one eye settles on the gun in Betty’s hands.

“Look at you, blondie,” Penny Peabody murmurs, “all grown up. How long has it been? Nine, ten years?”

Betty clicks off the safety on her gun. “Not long enough,” she says. “The last we heard of you was that you were setting up shop permanently in Greendale. You should have stayed there, Penny.”

“Life in Greendale is boring,” says Penny. The streetlamp above her head casts a sickly yellow glow over her face and messy hair. Her stance is laid back, relaxed. “And I started hearing the most interesting rumours. Rumours about you and Jughead. That you were effectively _running_ Riverdale now. Both the northside and the southside.”

“We don’t have a northside and southside anymore,” says Betty.

“Oh yes, I heard that, too.” Penny crosses her arms over her chest. “I’ve learned all kinds of things about you. For instance, did you know that people here are _very_ frightened of you?”

Betty shrugs. “Depends on who you ask.”

“Sure, sure,” says Penny. She takes a step closer to Betty and then waves a hand. “I know the spiel. Crime is at an all-time low. Homelessness is all but eradicated. The economy is bustling.” She shakes her head. “How did you accomplish so much in only a few years?”

Betty also steps forward. She ignores Penny’s comments. “I have a name for this gun, you know. I call her Matilda. Want to see what it does to a person up close?”

Penny’s lips pull back into a smile and then she laughs. The laugh erupts out of her and she crumples over, holding up a hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she says. “It’s just… it’s so cute. You’re threatening me. You’re threatening me when _I’m_ the one who has something you want. Or should I say, someone?”

Her laugh abruptly ceases and from behind her, other figures appear out of the darkness. They peel out from behind the other dumpsters and then flank behind Penny. Betty counts, eight – no _ten_ others. They fan behind Penny, wielding what looks like homemade weapons. Some are carrying baseball bats. Others are carrying shovels and axes with elongated handles.

“Betty,” says Penny, her voice smug, “you remember the Ghoulies?”

Betty eyes the figures now gathered around Penny coolly. Most of them have war paint slathered along their cheeks and eyes. They make faces at her and swing their bats and other weapons back and forth in the dim light.

“You’ve made friends,” says Betty. “How nice.” She widens her stance and raises the gun so it is pointed at Penny’s forehead. With barely suppressed control, she says, “Where is Jughead?”

Penny rolls her eyes. “Oh Betty. As if I would be stupid enough to tell you where he is. You would have your lackies all over us in moments. I thought by now you would know how this works. Honey, this is a _negotiation_. I have something that you want. Now ask me what I want.”

Betty clenches her jaw and practically spits the next words. “What do you want?”

“Oh now, that is a _much_ more interesting question.” Penny pretends to think about it. Then she folds her arms across her chest and says, “Two million dollars. Cash. In small bills of course. And I want a portion of the southside where my Ghoulies and I can start fresh. No interference from you and your Serpents.”

Betty slowly lowers the gun. “You want to start dealing again.”

Penny shrugs and then twirls a lock of hair around her finger. “Well… a girl’s got to eat.”

“The drug trade in Riverdale is over,” says Betty. “We cleaned it up.”

“I heard about that,” says Penny thoughtfully. She points at Betty. “Hey, that was Jones’ moral line, wasn’t it? Every good gang leader has to have that – the thing that reminds you that you’re still human. I heard that was his. Riverdale might be a police state, but hey, it’s a state without drugs so we can all go to bed feeling real good about ourselves.” She mimes patting herself on the back. Then she drops her voice and takes another step close to Betty. “The question is, blondie, what is _your_ line? What is _your_ thing that helps you feel human again?”

Betty clenches her jaw and does not answer.

“Oh, that’s right!” Penny smacks herself on the forehead. She turns to the Ghoulie standing next to her. Betty pegs him at about six feet tall. He has war paint on his cheeks and a rusted axe in his hand. Penny shrugs exaggeratedly in his direction and then turns back to Betty. “ _Your_ thing is Jughead. And where is Jughead now?” A smile spreads across her face. “Right! We have him. And if you ever want to see him alive, in one piece or otherwise, you’ll do as we ask.”

“I’ll need time.”

Penny scoffs. “It’s not like you have a committee you need to speak to, blondie. You make the decisions in this place. Either you agree to my terms or you don’t.”

“I agree to your terms,” says Betty. She keeps her voice calm. Slow and calm. She holds Penny’s gaze. “But I need time to get the money. Not even Jughead and I have two million dollars stuffed under our pillowcases.”

“Fine,” says Penny. “Twelve hours.”

“Two days,” says Betty. “At least.”

“Oh honey,” says Penny. Her voice is cheery again. “The negotiation phase of this little deal is over. Now I’m telling you the conditions of my terms. We meet back here in twelve hours. You come with your cash, and we come back with Jughead. In the meantime, we’ll be out looking for our, shall we say… new real estate on the southside.”

“I’m thinking somewhere along the river, boss,” says the Ghoulie on Penny’s right. “It’s scenic.”

“I like the river,” says Penny. She holds out a hand towards Betty. “Come on, blondie. Time to shake on it. Woman-to-woman.”

Betty clicks on the safety of her revolver and then sticks it back in her jeans. She closes the distance between them and takes Penny’s proffered hand. She squeezes Penny’s hand tightly.

“I swear to god, Penny, if you hurt him – ”

“You’ll get him back alive and in one piece,” says Penny. “Beyond that, I make no promises.” Penny smiles, a smile that sends Betty’s stomach curling into knots. “My boys have had a long summer, and they need an outlet.”

Betty does not allow any of her inner turmoil to show on her face. She releases Penny’s hand and steps back.

She thinks about reminding Penny that there is a reason why she and Jughead have been so effective at guiding Riverdale. She thinks of saying that Penny chose the wrong time to come back, the wrong enemies. She thinks about warning her that the more she hurts Jughead, the worse it will be for her and the rest of the Ghoulies.

But Betty knows that will only encourage Penny, only _hurt_ Jughead and that is something she cannot allow.

***

Betty stalks into her penthouse apartment at the Pembrooke.

Her normally quiet apartment is crawling with people. Serpent members of all stripes and ages are milling about, all of them giving Betty awkward, concerned looks as she pushes through the crowd.

She finds Reggie in the kitchen, leaning over the counter, a map spread out in front of him.

“Anything?” she barks.

“Our scouts are en route,” says Reggie. “Penny and the rest of her Ghoulies separated as soon as they left the area, but we have people following them. We’ll find him, Betty.”

She nods and then takes a seat in one of the bar stools at the counter, allowing herself a few quiet moments as she buries her forehead in her hands.

Her heart is thudding and her breath is shuddering. The emotion that she tried so hard to hold in while meeting with Penny and the Ghoulies in that alleyway bubbles dangerously close to the surface.

She was smarter than Penny, though. Penny tipped her hand by having her Ghoulies come out of hiding. Betty had people in hiding, too. But Penny wanted to give her a show of force, intimate her, remind Betty that she could have Betty killed on the spot if she wanted. But Betty knew better. The plan was always to wait them out and then follow them. By showing her hand, Penny has inadvertently given her a path back to her hide-away – _and_ to Jughead.

Penny is smart enough to know that Betty will have her followed, but not all her lackeys are that clever. One of them will show her people where Jughead is being held. It is only a matter of time.

She lifts her head and finds Reggie staring at her in concern. “You need a break, Cooper?” he murmurs. “You can take an hour. I got his.”

She feels a surge of gratitude. If someone had told her ten years ago that it would be _Reggie_ of all their friends that would still have their back… well, she would have thought that person was pulling a prank on her. But Veronica had praised him back when she first opened the Bonne Nuit. She said that he was surprisingly loyal. Dedicated. He did not mind getting his hands dirty.

Thinking about Veronica _now,_ when she needs friends more than ever, is like picking and pulling at a scab covering a wound that has never healed.

Cheryl had been the first of their friends to leave. _“Look, far be it for me to criticize your plans to clean up the town that killed Jason, but I can’t condone your methods, cousin. Whatever path you and Jughead are heading down, we can’t be a part of it_.”

Cheryl took Toni and a maple sapling and started a new Blossom family maple syrup farm in Vermont.

Kevin left next. _“Sorry, guys,” he had said. “I know that Riverdale is a messed up hellhole and sorely in need of guidance, but… this isn’t the way. I won’t stop you, but I can’t be a part of this.”_

Veronica, though. Veronica might well have stayed with them. If it had not been for Hiram’s death.

It had to be done, of course. If Hiram had lived, he was always going to be a threat to them. To Riverdale.

_“I will never forgive you,” Veronica said. “Luckily for both of you, I will not stoop to the same level as you and my father operate on. But make no mistake, Betty Cooper. If you come after anyone I love again, I will kill you.”_

Archie’s loss hurt most of all. Betty understands why he chose Veronica, why he followed her out of town. But a part of her thought that after everything, all the years the three of them had spent together, that eventually Archie would choose them instead.

_“Veronica’s right,” he said. “You guys know I want to clean up Riverdale more than anyone. But not like this. If my dad was still around… he would never forgive me.”_

But Reggie stayed. Sweet Pea stayed. Most of the Poisons stayed.

“I’m okay, Reggie,” she says. She has to be. Jughead needs her and this is not the time to reminisce. She forces her voice to stay strong, controlled. “How are we on weapons?”

“Peaches is running point,” says Reggie. “She’s going through our stores at the Whyte Wyrm as we speak. And we can always call in some of those favours we’ve accumulated over the last few years.”

“Not enough time,” says Betty. “Penny Peabody may have given us twelve hours to complete this deal, but she made it more than clear what they are doing to him every second of those hours. We can’t wait. Jughead can’t wait.”

The words barely leave her mouth when Reggie’s cell rings. “This is Reggie,” he says into the phone. “What have you got for me?” She watches his face it goes from tense, to thoughtful, and then to hopeful. “That’s got to be it. Good work, bro.”

He hangs up the phone and points to something on the map. Betty leans forward in her chair.

“One of our guys tracked a Ghoulie to the old abandoned mill on Sweetwater River.” He points to an old factory on the northside of town, about a half-hour drive from the Pembrooke. “It’s an old paper mill. Abandoned in the 1950s. Our guy says that the lights are back on and cars are driving in and out of the parking lot.”

“Huh,” says Betty. “One of her goons did say he wanted to stay by the river.”

She shakes her head. _Idiot_.

“I’ll call Sweet Pea and Peaches.”

Betty nods. “We need those weapons. I counted at least ten others with her this evening. She wanted to give me a show of force to put me off. She’ll only have a handful of others, maybe a few she left back at the mill to guard Jughead.”

“I say we give her a show of our own,” says Reggie. He pauses. “Are we shooting to kill?”

Betty inclines her head. Softly, she says, “They took Jughead.”

“Shoot to kill,” he says. “And what if some of her Ghoulies get second thoughts? Decide that maybe Penny isn’t a boss worth dying for?”

“We’re reasonable people, Reggie. But anyone who has so much as _touched_ Jughead….”

He nods. He gets the message and she is sure the rest of the Serpents will too.

He puts a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go and get him.”

***

The old abandoned paper mill sits along the widest banks of Sweetwater River where the current is at its most rapid. The mill consists of a large warehouse with two connected smokestacks rising behind it.

They park their vehicles about one kilometre away and cover the rest of ground on foot. Dawn is breaking by the time they make it to the mill. Morning sun is creeping over the banks of the river, its rays dancing over the top of the water.

Their scout had identified four entrances to the warehouse, a main entrance and three back doors. They have paired off into four teams lead by herself, Reggie, Sweet Pea, and Peaches.

Peaches will move first and lead the smallest team through the front door. The plan is to create a distraction while the other teams slip in through the back and cut the Ghoulies off from behind. Betty’s team will move in last. Her job is to find Jughead.

The warehouse is surrounded by underbrush and untamed grass. They crouch through the grass, keeping almost out of sight despite the brightening morning.

When her team is in position, Betty switches on her headpiece. “We’re in place,” she says.

“Me too,” says Reggie.

“We’re here, too,” says Sweet Pea.

“Good,” says Betty. “Stay quiet. Stay out of sight. We wait for the signal.”

She crouches down in the overgrown grass. Her team fans out around her. They had quickly devised that it would be impossible for Peaches to sneak in through the front door. With no better options, the “signal” will be Peaches and her team rushing the front with all guns blazing and making as much noise as they possibly can.

From her perch behind the warehouse, she can hear the slapping of waves against the banks of Sweetwater River. In the distance, she can hear the faint hum of traffic on the highway in and out of town. Then, closer – she picks up the rumble of an engine in the distance and tires churning against dirt roads.

She turns on her earpiece. “Peaches, do you read?”

“It’s a van,” says Peaches. “Someone is headed this way.”

Betty feels something twisting in her gut. “It’s Penny,” she says.

Reggie speaks next. “Betty, we don’t know that.”

“Trust me,” says Betty. “She’s come back to gloat. She thinks she has me cornered.”

Penny has underestimated her. She is not the first. Over the years, Betty has found it helpful to keep her image as the girl next door – the blonde hair, the ponytail, the comfy sweaters and jeans. How can she have _possibly_ done the things they whisper about? This girl cannot be the one who took down Hiram Lodge and then drove fizzle rocks and jingle jangle out of Riverdale.

They always learn that she _is_ that girl.

“Wait for the van to stop and then go in,” Betty says. “Beyond that, the plan doesn’t change. But I want Penny. Alive.”

“Copy that,” says Peaches.

Reggie and Sweet Pea murmur similar assents and then their line goes silent.

Betty does not have to wait much longer. The rumbling of the engine comes closer and then cuts to a stop. She hears doors open and close and then a scream, closely followed by a blast of gunfire.

She stays crouched on her haunches, listening to the sounds of a battle raging in the front of the warehouse. There are more screams, more fire, and then the sounds of metal ripping.

More gunfire, and then Peaches’ voice across the comms, “We’re in.”

Betty gestures to her team. They race forward. She stands back as her team break down the door and then they pile into the warehouse. Her team falls into position beside her as she quickly assesses the situation. Peaches and her team are moving quickly from the front of the warehouse. Many of the Ghoulies are already throwing away their weapons and putting up their hands. Some rush towards Peaches only to be mowed down in a hail of bullets.

From the beginning, Jug had his line in the sand, and she had hers. He wanted to keep drugs out of Riverdale, end the wars over jingle jangle and fizzle rocks. And Betty? Betty wanted the killings to stop. Ever since her father, since the Black Hood, she felt that she owed it to Riverdale to do penance for his kills, to make up for him and the pain that he caused.

She had been naïve to think they could do what they did without bloodshed.

But they have an order to the world they live in. Her rules are simple. Jughead comes first. Then Reggie and Sweet Pea. Then their Serpents. Their family. And there are consequences for messing with family.

Reggie and Sweet Pea are already rushing forward from their positions to provide Peaches with backup. Betty looks for Penny but does not find her in the crowd and rush of bodies. She will have to trust her people to find her.

Most of the warehouse floor is empty and abandoned, but there is a rickety staircase leading up to a second level with a short hallway and several rooms. She gestures to her team and then nods to the staircase. She pulls out her revolver and moves up the stairs. There is a heavy sheen of dust over the handrail and the stairs and she coughs as their movements cause dust to rain down around them.

She reaches the top of the staircase and then bursts into the first room, gun held up in front of her. She quickly pivots around the room – it looks like an old office, or a study – with an outdated computer still sitting in the corner. But it is empty. She backs out of the room and then charges into the next one. It is also empty, filled with nothing but rusted equipment and broken furniture.

She moves methodically onto the third one. She pushes open the door with her foot and bursts in with the gun held high in front of her.

That is where she finds him. She sweeps her gun around the room quickly to make sure that they are alone before she turns her full attention on Jughead. He is naked on the floor. His face is swollen and beaten almost beyond recognition. His hair is sticking out from his head and caked in dirt and dried blood. His body is covered in angry scrapes and cuts like they had been picking and cutting at him with a dull knife.

Anger explodes across her chest. She feels like someone has kicked her and it is all she can do to keep the gun steady in her hands. She quickly hits the safety and then turns around to yell at her team, “Get Sweet Pea up here. _Now_.”

They scatter and she hears their heavy boots disappear down the hall and down the stairs.

Betty rushes to Jughead’s side and then drops to her knees. Her hand hovers over his body. He is covered in a sheen of dust, sweat, and dirt.

She reaches for his shoulder, shakes him gently. “Jug,” she whispers. “Jug, wake up. It’s me. Betty.”

He stirs and then groans, curling into himself. “Leave Betty alone,” he manages. His voice is raspy like had been screaming and his vocal cords had given out on him.

One of her hands curls into a fist, her nails biting into the skin of her palm.

The Ghoulies are lucky that he is still alive.

They are very, very lucky.

As it is… she shakes his shoulder again. She keeps her voice gentle, but firm. “It’s okay, Jug. It’s okay now. I’m here to rescue you. Me and Reggie and Sweet Pea – we’re all here.”

She can tell the moment that he finally registers her presence. His swollen eyes open and he hisses in pain before he quickly closes them again. His body seems to curl in on himself.

“Betty?” he rasps.

“That’s right, Jug,” she says. “I’m here. I came for you.”

“No, no, no,” he cries. “You have to _run_. Betty, if they find you here, I can’t protect you, I – ”

“Shh,” her hand goes to his hair. She strokes her fingers through his hair, her fingers pressing down against his scalp in a way that usually calms him. “Don’t worry about that now. It’s my job to protect you this time. Okay?”

She hears a noise behind her and turns to find Sweet Pea and the rest of her team staring back at her. Sweet Pea looks shocked and sickened at Jughead’s condition, but he only says, “What do you need?”

“Get him covered up,” she says. “It’s freezing in here. And then get him out of here. Home.”

“What about – ”

“No hospitals,” she says sharply. “Never hospitals. I’ll look after him. Later. When I finish here.”

Betty runs another hand through Jughead’s hair. Although it physically pains her to leave him like this, she pushes herself to her feet and turns to Sweet Pea. “Where is she?”

“Peaches has her downstairs.”

She nods. Her fingers are back around her gun. “Look after him.”

Betty hurries downstairs and returns to what is left of the “fight.” It is a pathetic display. Most of the Ghoulies have given up. Their makeshift weapons of bats and axes are piled in a corner of the warehouse. In the middle is a pile of bodies. She does a quick count. None of the bodies belong to her people.

“Those are the Ghoulies who were too stupid to surrender,” says Peaches.

Betty turns to her. Peaches has Penny bound and on her knees. There is a spatter of blood across Penny’s face, but otherwise she is unharmed.

Betty approaches Penny slowly, the gun suddenly heavy in her hand. She expects Penny to be smug and defiant, but instead she crumbles.

“Please,” says Penny, “ _please_ , Betty. We are dying out here. Ever since you and Jughead cut off the drug trade in Riverdale, we have been starving. This was… desperation. Stupid. It got out of hand.”

“You tortured him,” says Betty. Her voice is flat. Penny is bound, helpless, _begging_ , but Betty feels nothing for her.

Penny’s eye fills with fear and she struggles uselessly against her ropes. “But he’s _alive_ ,” she says. Her voice cracks. “Just like I said, Betty. Alive and in one piece. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Penny is lucky that it _does_ mean something.

She hooks her gun back in her jeans and then reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a pocketknife that once belonged to her father. She found it in the garage a few months after he died when Betty was tinkering with the family car. At the time, the knife had reminded her so viscerally of her father that she almost threw it out. But something made her keep it. It fit so nicely in her pocket. Concealed and out of sight. She never knew when it might come in handy.

Betty sees the fear rising on Penny’s face.

“Oh, don’t worry,” says Betty. “I’m not going to kill you.” She pauses. “I’m going to take your other eye.”

Penny struggles against her bonds again. “Betty, no. Come on, we can work this out. I have connections. I can _help_ you.”

“Consider it a warning,” says Betty. “To anyone else who thinks that they can come to _our_ town and take a piece of it for themselves.”

Reggie speaks. “What about the rest of them?”

Betty sweeps her gaze around the rest of the Ghoulies, the ones who had surrendered. They are a rag tag bunch. Skinny, desperate. The fear radiating from them makes their war paint look more comical than intimidating.

“They can go,” Betty says flatly. “But they leave town. Anyone who thinks they can stay is dead.”

Then she crouches down in front of Penny. Penny shrinks back against Peaches, shaking her head and pulling and yanking at her bonds.

“Hold her still,” says Betty. She smiles at Penny. She thinks about how her smile is the last thing that Penny is ever going to be able to see and it makes her smile wider. “I wouldn’t want to miss and cut out something else instead.”

Peaches’ hands clamp down around Penny’s face, holding her still and firm. Betty holds up the knife.

Penny’s screams fill the warehouse.

***

After taking Penny’s eye, Betty washes her bloodied hands in Sweetwater River. She ties the knife to a rock and throws it into Sweetwater River’s rapids.

Then she returns to her penthouse suite at the Pembrooke. Sweet Pea had done what he could for Jughead, but Betty shoos him and his team away with a few tense words. Then, the hands that cut Penny’s remaining eye from her face while she thrashed and screamed, gently disinfect and bandage Jughead’s wounds.

She gives him something for the pain and helps him to bed.

They had learned some basic first aid over the year. Hospitals are only to be used as a last resort. Jughead had been the one who had insisted on it first – “ _No hospitals”_ – and she quickly followed his lead. Hospitals have reporting systems and regulations and links to the feds outside of their control.

She sits next to him on their bed while he sleeps. Her legs are crossed under her and she leans back against the headboard, hands resting on her knees. Jughead is lying on his side, eyes closed, mouth hanging slightly open as he breathes fitfully.

She used to feel remorse for hurting people. Now she has learned to push the guilt aside. When she is protecting Jughead, protecting what they have built, their _family_ – what could be wrong about that?

Besides, _Penny_ threw the first stone. She came into _their_ home. She went after Jughead. That was her choice. Betty and Jughead learned a long time ago that there needed to be consequences for anyone who tried to threaten them.

She stretches out on the bed next to Jughead, rolls onto her side until she is facing him. She presses her forehead to his. His breath is warm against her face.

She closes her eyes. Her heart is still pounding from facing off with Penny and the Ghoulies. Her neck and shoulders are tense from tension and adrenaline. She tries to steady her breathing, relax her muscles – _he’s fine, I’m fine, Reggie is fine, Sweet Pea is fine, we’re all fine_ – but sleep does not come to her.

She dozes. Images come to her mind in a place between dreaming and consciousness. She thinks of her cat, Caramel, of killing Caramel in the backyard with a rock, her father looming over her, the _squelch_ of rock against bone. She thinks about Hiram Lodge’s dead body, about how they just _left him_ in the street, and the way that Veronica _looked_ at them afterwards like they were rabid animals that needed to be put down. She thinks about finding Jughead’s body in that warehouse, covered in blood and bruises and dust and dirt, and the _rush_ of anger she felt because that was the _one thing_ that she could never allow.

Her eyes flutter open as Jughead starts to stir.

She watches as he turns on his back, trying to stretch, before he winces in pain. Finally, he pushes his eyes open. He stares at the ceiling for a few moments as if he is processing where he is and what has happened to him.

Betty touches his shoulder, her touch gentle, her fingers barely ghosting against the top of his shoulder and then his collar bone.

“Hey,” she whispers. “Welcome back.”

Jughead groans in pain and then forces himself to turn over on his side. His face is a horrible mash of colours, eyes swollen, cheeks red and black. His lip is split. She suspects he has a bruised rib or two and likely a mild concussion.

Anger swells up in her again. After cutting out Penny’s eye, they left her shaking and moaning in pain on the floor of the warehouse. Most of her Ghoulies fled. If Penny is lucky, one of her henchmen will be brave enough to creep back to the old mill and bring her to a hospital.

If she is unlucky, she will die slowly and painfully from blood loss and infection on the floor of the warehouse.

It will be a fitting end either way.

“Hey there, Juliet,” Jughead rasps back. He coughs, wincing in pain as he did so. “Well, I can safely say that I feel like shit.”

Betty bites her lip in sympathy. “You got beat up pretty bad, Jug.”

“Oh, I remember,” he says. He squeezes his eyes shut and hisses out a breath. “Sorry,” he says. “Your face is just… swimming a bit. Stop moving so much, Cooper.” He pauses and then says. “Am I dead?”

Betty props her weight up on her elbow. With her free hand, she gently trails her fingers along his cheek. He instinctively nuzzles into her hand. She wants desperately to do more – gather him up and hold him and kiss him, but she does not want to hurt him.

“Not dead yet. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Makes sense,” Jughead replies. “I always figured that death would be less painful. Plus, you and I would be much more naked.”

She bites down on a laugh. “That sounds like heaven,” she says. “A place you and I don’t exactly qualify for any longer.”

His body jerks with what might pass as a shrug. “Good thing I’m an atheist.”

“Good thing,” she says.

He forces his eyes open again, face screwing up like it is a tremendous effort. “What happened to Penny?”

“I took care of her,” says Betty.

“And the Ghoulies?”

“Gone. Or dead.”

Jughead nods and closes his eyes. She thinks he has drifted off again, but then he shifts his body towards hers. Without speaking, Betty sits up and leans back against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of her. Jughead curls into her, his head resting in her lap.

She trails her fingers through his hair. His breathing is ragged but then he purses his lips and it evens out.

“Jug,” she says, “what happened?”

“They jumped me on my way home,” he says. “I should have clocked that I was being followed, but ever since we took care of Hiram…. I started to relax, you know? They bound my hands. Then I was blind-folded and taken to that warehouse where you found me. I knew we hadn’t gone too far because I could still hear the river.” He pauses and then starts again. “They beat me pretty badly that night. There were moments when I wasn’t sure if… but Penny made them stand down. Said I had no value if I was dead.”

Betty’s hands still in Jughead’s hair. The Ghoulies are lucky that she already let them leave town.

“I don’t remember much after that,” Jughead says. “They took my clothes and moved me. I must have passed out. When I woke up, I was lying on the floor. It was cold. Penny was there. She… she talked about you. Told me about her plans for you. The things the Ghoulies would do to you while they made me watch.” His voice is soft. “Betty, I never doubted that you would come for me. Not for a second. But I was terrified of what would happen to you when you did.”

“It was all bluster, Jug,” she whispers. “She was desperate. Sloppy. Stupid.”

“I know that,” he says. “But she’s not the last person who is going to go after us. One day someone might succeed.”

“They won’t,” she says. Her voice is hard.

She thinks about her father and Hiram and Penelope Blossom. All of them had tried to control Riverdale. The Blossoms tried to stand at the top and their maple empire crumbled under their feet in blood and fire. Her own father tried to cleanse Riverdale of sin only to end up in a grave of his own. Hiram Lodge tried to buy it and sell it like he was its king. But all kings eventually lose their heads

_We’re not our parents, Betty_ , Jughead had told her once.

The truth is, they are much better than their parents.

Where their parents failed, Betty and Jughead succeeded. Riverdale is theirs now, and it is _better off_ for it. She is not going to let anyone take it from them.

“I love when you talk like that,” Jughead replies. His hand moves up her thigh. “If I wasn’t just beaten within half an inch of my life…” he trails off, the teasing glint gone from his voice. “Betty, if this had been you, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“You would have done the same as me.”

“Maybe,” he says. “Maybe worse. Just hearing Penny talk about what she wanted to do to you is enough to give me nightmares. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop her.”

His last words are faint and scratchy like he is losing energy. His head feels heavier in her lap.

“I’ll get you something for the pain,” Betty murmurs. “Then you can sleep this off. We’ll talk more in a few hours, okay?”

He nods against her lap and then coughs, a dry cough that sound like his lungs are trying to crawl up through his throat. She gently nudges his head off her lap and then pads down the hall to the bathroom.

She comes back with a tablet of Dilaudid and a glass of water. “Drink,” she says.

He takes the pill and the water, swallows it down with a wince. He coughs again and then settles down back down on the bed, his eyes fluttering shut.

“These better not be from the black market,” he murmurs.

“Of course not. A doctor donated them to me from a hospital.”

He makes a noise that sounds like it might be a snort, but then he coughs again, and he collapses against the bed as if in defeat. Betty watches him with concern, but she is tense too – it does not seem to matter how many years go by or what they do to support themselves, Jughead still will not tolerate the drug trade.

He wisely decides not to go down that road with her right now. Instead, he cracks one eye open and says, “Stay with me?”

Betty unbuckles her jeans and then shimmies out of them. Clad in a t-shirt and underwear, she lifts the covers and then slides next to him. His body radiates heats next to hers. She is close enough to count every scrape, every bruise on his face.

She waits until he is sleep before she whispers, “I’ll always stay with you.”


End file.
